JOE ROYLE found himself in the Rifle Range pub in ­Chadderton the night before Oldham last scented an FA Cup shock, offering a morsel of ­encouragement to even the most pessimistic of locals.

Royle celebrates after his Everton team beat favourites Manchester United in the 1995 FA Cup final

“They were all saying they didn’t have a chance before the Liverpool game and that there wasn’t a player in the Oldham team that would get on the Liverpool bench. But I said, ‘This is the FA Cup’,” he recalled.

“And that’s the only time for a long, long time that Oldham have had champagne.

“The same applies with Everton now. No Oldham player would get on the Everton bench, but there is still the magic of the FA Cup to take into account. Man can bite a dog.”

Royle knows that better than most. The affection in which he is held at Boundary Park as a manager who led the club to a League Cup final and two FA Cup semi-finals against Manchester United in the early Nineties as well as ensuring Oldham can lay claim to being founder members of the Premier League, is replicated at Everton.

He remains the last man to bring silverware to Goodison Park, upsetting the apple cart once more to get the better of Sir Alex Ferguson in 1995, though that is a landmark he would gladly lose.

Joe Royle got Oldham to the FA Cup semi final in 1994 before winning the cup in 1995 with Everton

“They were all saying they didn’t have a chance...But I said, ‘This is the FA Cup’"

Joe Royle

“We did and we didn’t punch above our weight,” he said. “Denis Irwin went on to be the best full-back around for years.

Ian Marshall played for five Premier League clubs, Paul Warhurst played for five, Earl Barrett four and Ryan Giggs said he was the best defender he’d faced, Mike Milligan three. So the players were actually wolves in sheep’s clothing.

“We had some great lads and great times. I remember Milligan and Nick Henry doing a silly photo for a newspaper when we were playing West Ham in the League Cup semi-final in 1990. The game was on Valentine’s Day and they posed as gangsters with machine guns, pinstripe suits, the lot.

“I went mad at them for showing a lack of respect. But we beat West Ham 6-0 and the pair of them were looking for me after the game.

“We also had the plastic pitch when Everton played us in the cup in 1990 and I remember having a conversation with Peter Reid about how good it was. He said six F-words in a seven-word sentence.

“But there is no comparison from then to where Oldham are now.

“Back then we could take players from bigger clubs and give them more wages than they were earning at their parent club because the wage explosion hadn’t quite taken off. That can’t happen now and so you don’t get so many fairy tales like us and Wimbledon.

“It is hard times for Oldham. The one glow out of the whole thing was the Liverpool game. They have good, honest players, but they’re probably at their lowest ebb for a while.”

Decline set in when Oldham’s grip on top-flight status finally loosened after three seasons.

Royle went to Everton in November 1994 to try to drag the club out of the relegation mire, and was replaced by Graeme Sharp, whom he brought to Oldham three years earlier and another whose football ties span both clubs.

“When Joe left, the first thing the chairman did was give me a list of players to get rid of,” said Sharp. “Fair enough, but they were 10 players who were in the first team.

“We had been in the Premier League and it had been great, but I don’t think there was any real ambition to get back up there. Paul Gerrard left. Gunnar Halle, Richard Jobson. They were all players who continued to play in the Premier League. When that happens, there is only one way – down.”

As Oldham’s red rose wilted, Royle’s arrival at Everton was akin to administering a kiss of life. Cut adrift at the foot of the Premier League to such an extent as to make QPR’s current toils look a breeze, the season ended in safety and silverware.

“Everyone talks about the FA Cup being my greatest achievement at Everton, but I would say it was staying up,” said Royle, who scored more than 100 goals for the club.

“After a third of the season we had eight points. We were on schedule for 24 points and ended up with 50.

“Three weeks before the end of the season, we still weren’t definitely safe so we never took the cup too seriously. It was only when we beat Tottenham in the semi-final, which I’d say is one of Everton’s best displays of modern times, that we became serious about it.”

To a fashion. The build-up was remarkably relaxed, with days spent on the golf course, before Everton belatedly put on their game face.

“I wasn’t one for big team talks,” added Royle. “I just said, ‘Don’t come in with any regrets, thinking if only’.

“I’m proud of that achievement, but being the last Everton manager to win a trophy is a record I’d gladly lose. Moyesy’s had almost 11 great years now but badly wants a ‘w’ on his CV.”

Oldham would become the first team since Derby in 1976 to beat both Liverpool and Everton before the final of the competition if they prevail.

“That is the next fairy tale,” he said. “You might turn round 10 minutes after the game and say, ‘Everton were always going to win’ or you might say, ‘That’s the FA Cup for you’.”‘You don’t get so many fairy tales now’